Another newbie to the chickens and ducks

Hello everyone, I joined up here because of all the helpfull info.
I have 7 khaki campbell ducklings and am getting 2 indian runners also planning to get a few chickens. I would invite anyone to give any helpfull information. Also Im from Australia. Thanks.

Some helpful advice... Well, it all depends on your methodology/philosophy of poultry husbandry. I prefer natural methods. So, here's what's worked for me:

>Kelp as a multivitamin, mineral, and trace element source, a pinch per bird per day added to the feed. It's an endocrine regulator and can cause birds to reveal hidden phenotypes, i.e. a 2-year-old pure white bird can change the colors of its eyes, beak, skin, feathers, legs, claws, eggshells, etc after being on kelp for a few months. Before kelp its true colors remain hidden. It's a promoter for laying, growth, general health and intelligence, is good for the majority of species, and prevents moulting to nakedness. It gives you calm and very healthy birds, very 'fast and forward' chicks, great fertility, and of course it's cheap compared to many other nutritional supplements and one kilo lasts a long time at the rate you use it. Can be bought in bulk. Also, Australia is notoriously deficient in iodine, which doesn't show in mineral tests as it's technically not a mineral, so basically ever animal benefits from kelp added to the diet. People, too. It manages thyroid problems, of course.

>Garlic for general disease resistance and prevention. It's a natural antifungal, antiparasitic, antimicrobial, antiviral, antibiotic, etc, also a prebiotic, also contains high levels of sulfur compounds so prolonged usage in the diet will render a bird toxic to small parasites both internal and external without harming the bird (or anything that eats its eggs or flesh). (The parasite's minute bodies can't handle the high level of sulfur that's safe for the much larger host). The sulfur also speeds and aids healing and virus/disease prevention and treatment. I give a freshly minced/crushed clove per bird per day, mixed with the feed, but you can give two or more per day if they like and if you can afford it (it's cheap here anyway); I also give it to chicks with their very first feed, and have never seen symptoms of coccidiosis, never mind had a sick bird or lost one to it, over many hundreds of naturally raised birds. It can also eradicate scaly leg mite through diet alone. I've also never had respiratory disease, which I also attribute to garlic mainly. Freshly crushed or cut garlic releases enzymes which interact to create Allicin which is more potent than man-made antibiotics when it comes to treating many things including food poisoning bacteria. This fades after a few hours or days, variably, so it's best prepared right before feeding it to them.

>Chilli, pepper, cayenne, tabasco sauce, etc for removing large tapeworms or other larger established internal parasites with higher tolerances for sulfur in the diet. Chickens love hot foods, so this in particular will appeal to them, but I haven't kept ducks so can't offer advice on that. However, I have used tabasco sauce, cayenne, etc over the years to worm everything from cats to dogs to adult poultry that have large worms, so I can attest to its value in that usage. Ground black pepper is an anti-epileptic and used to be used mixed with a little butter to stop epileptic ducks from having fits. I know Multiple Sclerosis sufferers who swear by a high dietary intake of black pepper to stop their muscular spasms. Cayenne pepper etc can also assist to break the lifecycle of Blackhead in turkeys due to burning the oocysts that carry it. Chickens on a healthy diet don't seem to need any help with BH in my experience, only the very rare minority ever show symptoms and they heal within a day.

>Soaked or fermented grains/seeds for better bio-availability. They will eat less and be healthier than ever. I used to just soak them in water overnight, but some people ferment them. You should definitely look into this, because it's economical and yet healthier, unlike many 'economical' feed choices which tend to lead to lower health in the long run.

I also highly recommend giving cold pressed natural oils, freeranging them, and avoiding pelletized feeds in general. Of course you can still successfully keep them without following any of my advice, I'm just offering what I've found to provide greater health for my birds. Spending a little extra on them is fine with me because I raise them for meat and eggs for my family's health more so than as a hobby, so their health directly translates into our health, and due to sensitivities I cannot use artificial antibiotics, chemical wormers and medicated low-value feeds, etc.